


The Ghost and his hunter

by Nathaniel_isSimpingAgain



Series: a collection of short AOT stories [4]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghost Hunters, Anxious Armin Arlert, Bittersweet Ending, Fluff, Ghost Marco Bott, Jean is in love, Light Angst, M/M, Marco is happy, Mild Gore, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:48:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28823961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nathaniel_isSimpingAgain/pseuds/Nathaniel_isSimpingAgain
Summary: Jean had always been a sceptic, Eren and his boyfriend’s little ghost hunts were always fun, he enjoyed making Armin jump and Eren’s eyes dart around the room like he was following a particularly fast fly. They never caught anything substantial as evidence, so it would be the same this time...right?
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein
Series: a collection of short AOT stories [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102553
Kudos: 35





	1. your typical ghost hunter, your not so typical ghost

**Author's Note:**

> TW: murder and suicide is brought up in this story

As always, when Armin, Eren’s delightfully friendly boyfriend, offered to take Jean ghost hunting with them, he said yes. It wasn’t because he believed in the supernatural or wanted to catch a ghost, don't get him wrong, he mostly just liked to mess with the couple. Jean was sure that they only continued to believe because of his sly antics. He would set a speaker up on the initial split up and search, and then continuously play small sounds through it like soft giggles or scratching throughout the rest of the night. Or he would tamper with the delicate equipment to make them read a room cold no matter what, or replace their ‘spirit box’ with an almost identical speaker that he pre-recorded to say spooky things. If Armin wasn't so shit scared, and Eren so focused on comforting his boyfriend, he was sure they would notice what he was doing

“I'm just saying, it wouldn't hurt to paint the feature wall in the bedroom red-”

“I'm not buying overpriced paint for a colour change when the baby blue is just fine,” Armin sighed, looking back at Jean in the backseat for help as Eren tried, for the third weekend in a row, to paint their bedroom red, or at least one of the walls. Jean shrugged looking away from the window and the setting sun, “Red isn't a bedroom colour,” he stated, siding with Armin mostly to piss off Eren. “See?” Armin hummed, though Eren whined loudly. “No that's not fair! You know he’s only doing that to spite me!” The older man’s head whipped around to pull an exasperated face at Jean, but he was met with Armin’s hand on his jaw, forcing him to look at the road. “We’re still driving Eren!” he almost shouted, shaking slightly, and Jean looked back out the window, away from the couple as Eren’s hand came to rest on Armin’s thigh with a soft ‘sorry.

The rest of the journey was quieter, mostly due to Armin’s spiked anxiety and Eren’s now unbreakable focus on the road. Jean wasn’t one for making conversation when Armin got like this, he needed his space and time to calm down even after only brief panics. 

“It’s smaller and more modern than I thought it would be…” Jean mumbled as they pulled up on the pavement and got out of the car, Armin pulling his backpack on as Eren locked the car. They were in front of a house that could only have been built in the sixties. “Are we allowed in here?” Jean asked quietly, not wanting to disturb any of the neighbours. This was an active neighbourhood, they had never hunted in an active neighbourhood before. 

“Of course we are!” Armin perked up, pulling a set of keys from his pocket, both Eren and Jean looking at him in surprise. “I asked the current landlord for a spare set, he was my Grandpa’s old friend,” he smiled, and Jean could have gagged at the disgustingly in love look Eren gave him. He turned his head as the two kissed, and Eren’s hands got a bit grabby and then was swatted away by a flushed blonde. “Why here?” he asked once the couple composed themselves, and Eren cleared his throat. “There was a murder here about ten years ago, guy called Marco, and everyone moves out a few weeks after moving in,” he stated plainly, though Armin elaborated slightly. “They say they hear crying and screaming at night, footsteps up and down the stairs, and see glimpses of a guy with half his face missing from the corner of their eye.” Jean stopped for a moment and looked up at the house. He could have sworn he had seen someone move past one of the upstairs windows, but ghost stories did that to a person sometimes, even a sceptic like Jean. “Marco?”

“They all described him perfectly down to the last detail,” Armin answered, making his way up the pathway. Jean and Eren followed after him.

If Armin and Eren hadn't have told him about this _Marco_ guy, Jean doubted he would have shivered as he walked in through the front door. He ignored the way Eren and Armin did too, and watched as they went off towards the living room. Jean shrugged, and made his way upstairs like he always did, though this time he was curious about that window.

The house had no furniture, so the rooms were bare and there was nothing particularly interesting to look at in them. Normally there would be some sort of pentagram spray painted on the floor that Armin would refuse to walk over, or a doll that Eren avoided with his life, but this time there was nothing, and if Jean was honest it was freaking him out a little. ‘Haunted spots’ normally looked haunted, but this place didn't and just standing in the middle of what would have been the master bedroom made his skin _crawl_. 

This was crazy! Jean had never had his heart beat so quickly, and adrenaline pump around his body in such a non-threatening environment before, there must’ve been something that his body had noticed and he hadn't. There was no other explanation for his panic and unsettling. 

He spun around to look at the wardrobe as he spotted someone peeked at him through the cracks. He could _feel_ them there!

“Hey, who’s there, this is private property you know,” he called out, though his voice was soft considering how he normally sounded. _Why?_ “I know,” he could have sworn a soft voice replied, and he whipped around again to try and catch them. He covered his ears, _they whispered in his ear!_ “Then why are you here?” he asked almost desperately, practically screaming when he _swore_ he saw a guy standing in the closest corner of the room, half his face missing and dripping with blood. 

His eyes widened considerably as soft and gentle hands covered his mouth, a tall and kind looking man now standing before him, a desperate sort of look in his eyes. “Please don’t scream,” he whispered, smiling softly despite Jean’s quickened breath. “I'm Marco, what's your name?” he asked gently, though Jean couldn't respond, not at first at least. _Marco?!_

“You don't need to be scared,” he whispered, frowning slightly, “am I scary?”

Jean slowly relaxed as he removed his hands from his mouth, shivering slightly at how cold he was. “N-no you’re not scary, I'm Jean....I’ve just never seen a ghost before you're..” he paused for a second to take in the man’s face. It was soft with gentle looking brown eyes, freckles scattered across his cheeks and what he could see of his shoulders. He was… he was-

“Pretty,” he whispered, both men flushing and looking away from each other. Marco bit his lip and Jean almost hit himself. He was flirting with a _ghost!_ “Really?” he asked quietly, obviously self conscious. “Yeah, I wouldn't lie about something like that…” he whispered back, almost completely relaxed now. 

“Why are you here?” Jean asked cautiously, sitting down on the floor beside him. “Because I'm scared, I'm scared of what comes next...and I like it here..” Marco looked...sad, lonely, as he curled in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest. “Do you…maybe want to be friends?” he asked quietly, knowing it was such a dumb question, but he knew the answer before the ghost even answered.

“Yes!” he giggled, and Jean smiled as he looked into his eyes. They looked warm and accepting. Then Eren marched into the room and they widened in fear. “Jean we’ve been calling for you what are you-” Eren froze and pointed to the ghost, who had not disappeared, he knew he had been caught. Armin stood by his side, arms wrapped around Eren’s arm for comfort. “Who’s that?” he asked quietly. “Marco?” the blonde asked, and Jean nodded. 

“Yeah, that's Marco.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I normally wouldn't write endings like this but...It kinda made sense, enjoy :)

The initial shock of meeting a ghost wore off after the group returned weekend after weekend, friendships and a budding relationship grew between Jean and Marco that no one but Armin and Eren saw. It was odd, to watch your best friend fall in love with a ghost, but they had never seen the man as happy as when he was around Marco. They discovered Marco was closer to a poltergeist than a ghost, though he wasn't as mischievous or aggressive, just sad and misunderstood. He could make himself solid, though only for an hour at a time and it took a lot of energy that he had learned to control over his years in the afterlife.

If they were honest, Armin and Eren saw the move coming from a mile away, Jean had started to pack, and whenever they went to see Marco he would grin like he knew something Marco didn’t. It was sweet, the way that Jean was completely taken by a ghost of all people. But it also made them worry, would Jean go as far as ending his own life to be with Marco truly? Armin had many a panic attack over the thought, but Eren was always there to remind him that Jean would never do something like that. At least he hoped not.

The moving truck stood outside the house made Marco anxious, he hadn't had someone apart from Jean and his friends or the landlord inside for a while, and the prospect of new people made him pace along the passageway. How was Jean supposed to visit him now? How was he meant to smile and laugh with the ghost hunters, tell them stories and listen to theirs? Would he ever see them again? Would they forget about him? Would his only friends forget about him? His thoughts were interrupted by the people moving furniture up the stairs walking right through him, and he quickly rushed into the bedroom to hide in the corner he liked to stand in. 

“Oh fuck!” a woman shouted as she helped her co-worker drop the bed onto the ground. “What?” someone else asked, and she pointed over to the corner where Marco stood. Shit, he had done it again. “I swear I just saw a guy he...his face was all fucked up, half of it was missing…” she stuttered out. The team left soon after that.

The moment the house was vacant, apart from the new owner, Marco sunk down to the floor with a loud audible thud. 

_ “Marco!” _

He bounced back to his feet. That sounded like-

“Marco where are you? The bedroom?” 

Marco’s smile was the largest Jean had ever seen it, his eyes as bright, if not brighter, than usual. “Hey Marc- Ah!” he cried out as he was knocked off his feet, smiling and burying his head in the ghost’s hair, his arms wrapped around his waist. “I thought I’d never get to see you again!” he cried, face now blotchy red from tears, nose running as he looked up at Jean. “I thought you might have been lonely,” was his response, and Marco couldn't help but lean forward and smash his lips into Jean’s. Jean was warm and vibrant,  _ alive _ . He made Marco feel whole again, made him feel complete and wanted. 

They relaxed against each other, and they smiled as they pulled away from the long awaited kiss. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Jean whispered, chuckling as Macro hid his face and whined into his chest. “I have too- I didn't think you would like me like that I-I'm literally dead…” he whispered, though Jean just hugged him closer. “I can work with that, I've never felt like this with anyone else before so...Don't you worry.”

And Marco didn't worry, not for a long time, they lived life like any other couple. They sat and watched movies, Marco sat with Jean at meal time, they slept together, they made  _ love _ . Marco didn't feel so lonely anymore, and Jean had never been happier. 

“You know,” Jean whispered as he turned off the bedside light and turned over to look at Marco, “I love you, with all my heart...I'd do anything for you….” he whispered, and for a moment Marco was scared. He loved Jean, he really did, but conversations like these always ended badly, a heart broken or person lost at the end. He was scared, scared that Jean would take his life to be with him when he was too exhausted to physically stop him. 

The worry must have been evident on his face, because Jean’s soft smile dropped and he reached out to cup Marco’s cheeks. “Oh Marco- i know what you’re thinking I-”

“I don’t want you to kill yourself Jean,” he sobbed quietly, the other man’s eyes widening. “No no no no- Marco I wasn't going to- I'd never do that to you!” he whispered, pulling his cold body close and smiling into his hair. “I won't ever do that to you.”

Armin woke with a start, sweat dripping down his face and his back, soaking Eren’s dress shirt that he wore to sleep. He rested a hand on his heart.  _ Too fast _ he thought, trying to take deep breaths.  _ Something feels wrong. _ His boyfriend shifted under the covers beside him, his own eyes flickering open, voice groggy with sleep. “Armin?” he asked quietly, groaning as the blonde leaned over to turn the bedside light on and check the time. “Armin it’s like...two in the morning…” he muttered after glancing at their digital clock. “What's wrong? Was it another nightmare?” he muttered as he leaned on his elbows, watching his wide eyed boyfriend. 

“Something isn’t right,” he whispered, looking over to his thoroughly confused boyfriend. Armin had confused episodes like this all the time, his anxiety kicking his fears and worries into overdrive and it always made him feel like something was  _ wrong _ .

_ How many times have we heard this _ , Eren thought as his boyfriend rambled on about something not being right.  _ And how many times has it turned out to be nothing. _

“Armin please calm down-”

“We have to call Jean,” he answered suddenly, snapping out of his worried state and into the next,  _ insistence _ . “Its two in the morning, you don't need to call jean- you’ll wake him up and make him all pissy-”

“No Eren you don't understand!” he practically shouted, causing Eren to pause for a second. And suddenly  _ something did feel wrong. So so so very wrong.  _ “You feel it too, right?” he asked quietly, and Eren nodded slowly, reaching for his phone when-

Eren’s phone, a phone that had been on silent, blasted his ringtone so loud that Eren could have sworn it was a scream. Armin covered his ears, but took note of who was calling. 

_ Jean. _

“Jean what’s wrong?” Eren answered almost immediately, putting the phone on speaker. Nothing. No voices, just the sound of hurried footsteps and then  _ nothing _ . Armin and Eren exchanged a look, and jumped out of bed at a speed they had never gone before. When they found Jean’s body sprawled out on the bedroom floor, Armin looked at Eren in a way that he had never, and would never see Armin look again. 

Jean kirstein’s murder trial was a hard one, filled with holes and missing witnesses. Marco couldn’t testify, couldn’t offer evidence- It was a miracle the next door neighbour had security cameras, catching Reiner Braun, Annie Leonhard and Bertholdt Hoover red handed. 

The couple were, surprisingly, quite alright after the trial, and a month later they moved to a new house, their housemates two lovebird ghosts who just couldn’t get enough of each other.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my way of avoiding annotating a soliloquy from Oedipus Rex that's due this morning at 8:45 ya boy is just cool like that :)
> 
> also can't stop listening to Lagtrain by inabakumori (Kaai Yuki) it's becoming an issue


End file.
